Tim Burke (journalist)

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Timothy Burke
Born1977 or 1978 (age 45–46)
Sports journalist
, media consultant
Years active2006–present

Timothy Burke is an American

FBI search of his home.[2]

Early life

Burke is from Ohio[3] and graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor's degree in journalism.[4] He earned a master's degree in communication from Eastern Michigan University before moving to Florida, where he pursued a doctorate in communication studies at the University of South Florida.[5]

Career

While at the University of South Florida in 2006, Burke created the blog Mocksession.com, which captured "esoteric" screengrabs and clips from live sports broadcasts, including in

SportsGrid as a video coordinator.[3]

Burke provided video content and wrote articles for

computer servers, receivers, and tuners that could record up to 28 simultaneous broadcasts.[7][8] Burke's content included awkward moments for sportscasters and fans, on-field incidents, bloopers, and errors in news broadcasts.[1][7]

He also co-wrote an investigative piece for Deadspin with Jack Dickey in 2013 that uncovered the false identity of college football player

closed caption feeds of news networks, alongside his video content.[7]

He founded Burke Communications, a media and political consulting company, in 2019.[7] Among his clients were HBO and ESPN.[11]

Tucker Carlson case

Burke was the source of two leaked clips from

Vice in October 2022 and Media Matters for America in April 2023. The clips showed host Tucker Carlson, who left Fox News shortly before Media Matters published the footage, making sexist and "uncouth remarks"; the Vice clip included discussions between Carlson and rapper Kanye West that included anti-Semitic material.[12][13] Burke's home was raided and searched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on May 8, 2023, serving a warrant related to the Tucker Carlson case according to the Tampa Bay Times.[7] Sixteen computers, two hard drives, and two cell phones were seized as part of the investigation.[11][14]

On February 22, 2024, Burke was arrested and issued with 14 federal charges related to the case, including one count of conspiracy and several counts of wiretapping.[11] The indictment alleges that the footage had been obtained from an internal video system through "compromised credentials" by Burke and another person.[11] Burke's lawyers claim that the video feeds were found through publicly accessible but hidden URLs on streaming service LiveU; they were allegedly not secured by a password,[2][15] though other reports indicate Burke and his co-conspirator misappropriated credentials belonging to CBS News that were accidentally posted on a radio station website.[16]

The case has been criticized by the

U.S. Department of Justice of not labeling Burke as a journalist to avoid potential First Amendment issues,[17] though even the Tampa Bay Times has characterized Burke as a "former journalist," pointing to his post-journalism career as a political consultant and advocate and noting that he didn't use the term to describe himself until after the FBI raid on his house.[18]

Personal life

Burke is married to Lynn Hurtak, a member of the Tampa City Council since 2022.[19] They live in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa, Florida.[11] Burke is on the board of directors for Jobsite Theater, a Tampa-based nonprofit theater company.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c Lyall, Sarah (October 21, 2013). "Maker of Animated GIFs Waits for Offbeat Moments". The New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Stuart, Tessa (February 22, 2024). "Journalist Tim Burke Indicted For Leaking Tucker Carlson Clips That Embarrassed Fox News". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Malinowski, Erik (September 27, 2011). "Mocksession Captures Goofy, Gross Moments in Sports". Wired. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "How an OU alum uncovered the Manti Te'o scandal". Athens News. October 13, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Tim Burke". Jobsite Theater. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Bucholtz, Andrew (June 29, 2018). "Timothy Burke is leaving Deadspin after seven years, amidst wider buyouts across Gizmodo Media Group". Awful Announcing. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Spata, Christopher (May 26, 2023). "Tampa's Tim Burke has certain skills and a Twitter following. The FBI has his computers". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  8. ^ Burke, Timothy (March 20, 2013). "The Insane One-Man Computer Station It Takes to Cover Every Single March Madness Game". Gizmodo. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  9. ^ Boren, Cindy (August 17, 2022). "Manti Te'o, victim of a catfishing hoax, hopes he's still an inspiration". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  10. ^ Farhi, Paul (April 2, 2018). "As Sinclair's sound-alike anchors draw criticism for 'fake news' promos, Trump praises broadcaster". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Garcia, Justin; Sullivan, Dan; Cridlin, Jay (February 22, 2024). "Tampa media figure Tim Burke indicted on conspiracy charges". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  12. ^ Barr, Jeremy; Sommer, Will (June 1, 2023). "Behind-the-scenes videos of Tucker Carlson were leaked. Was it a crime?". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  13. ^ McCordick, Jack (May 27, 2023). "FBI Raid of Tampa Journalist Connected to Tucker Carlson Leaked Clips". Vanity Fair. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  14. ^ Spata, Christopher; Sullivan, Dan; Garcia, Justin (May 26, 2023). "Tucker Carlson, Fox News hacks tied to FBI search of Tampa council member's home". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  15. ^ Sommer, Will (February 22, 2024). "Journalist indicted after accessing Tucker Carlson video footage". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  16. ^ Keys, Matthew (January 15, 2024). "Exclusive: Florida journalist used CBS News password to access Fox News video feeds". The Desk. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  17. Slate
    . Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  18. ^ "Is Tampa's Tim Burke still a journalist?". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  19. ^ Wilson, Kirby (February 22, 2024). "Who is Tim Burke? How the feds cracked down on the Tampa media figure". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
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